David Letterman, Dave Chapel, Adam Sandler, Conan O’Brien, Molly Shannon and David Spade shared memories and pondered the deaths of their friend Norm MacDonald at the end of Netflix’s new special comedian, Norm MacDonald: Nothing Special.
After watching a screening of McDonald’s performance, which was recorded at his home, friends of the late Saturday Night Live star discussed his influence on the world of comedy. During their conversation, several of them admitted that they did not know that the star, who died in September 2021 after a nine-year battle with cancer, is ill.
“I don’t know how everyone else felt here, but Norm had been sick for a long time and he was getting sicker, and I didn’t know and talked to so many people I was sure they knew,” O’Brien said. I thought, “Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t know.” … He didn’t want anyone to know, and so, since I’m a self-absorbed person, I think a lot of us thought, “Is he mad at me? Is there anything I did? because we were constantly trying to get him back and we couldn’t. He couldn’t do it because I don’t think he’s ready for it. He didn’t want to answer questions about maybe, you know, his looks or anything, but I remembered when he went, everyone in the community was – we all thought we were the only ones who didn’t know, and we were so upset that we didn’t get a chance to tell him what he meant to us.
Also read: How will NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” perform after the stars of big names leave? | Graphs
Chapel also said he did not know Macdonald was ill.
“The last time I saw him was at the Comedy Store and he was uncharacteristically emotional. Like when we broke up, he was. And there’s a picture of me and him and the back of Chris Rock’s neck – I put it in my special program, “Chapel said. “This picture – it’s at the end of The Closer – was the last time I saw it. He climbed up, stood behind me, and I realized that he was posing for the photo, in retrospect, as a gift. That was a very goodbye. “
The story continues
Shannon said McDonald seemed to have an “urgency” of the words he shared with her when they crossed paths for the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live.
“I saw him on SNL 40 and I didn’t know he had cancer or anything, but I remember when he saw me, he said, ‘I love you, Molly.’ He just said it right away, “she said. “I just had the feeling that he felt such an urgency to say exactly what was on his mind right now. … And I just said to myself, “Oh, there’s something different with Norm.”
Read also: Conan O’Brien says NBC tried to ban Norm MacDonald from his late-night show
Sandler and Spade discussed a stand-up tour with McDonald and Rob Schneider, with Sandler noting that their friend had expressed his emotions during the trip.
“But he became very emotional,” Sandler said. “As during the whole tour, he would suddenly burst into tears and say, ‘This is wonderful,'” Sandler recalled. “As just the tour itself and hanging out and we were going to have dinner and breakfast and sh – and he was more – it would just be so much fun to see him. He had so much energy to hang on. “
Add Comment